PHILADELPHIA – For the first time in several months Monday, the Eagles’ assistant coaches were available to the media.

That meant it was the first opportunity to ask wide receivers coach Bob Bicknell about the shouting match he and DeSean Jackson got into during a Dec. 15 game against Minnesota.

The Eagles released Jackson on March 28. That led to speculation that the sideline incident, caught by TV cameras, might have had something to do with the departure of the Eagles’ most productive receiver. Jackson caught 82 passes for 1,332 yards last season.

“All I can say is I never had a problem with DeSean Jackson,” Bicknell said. “I enjoyed coaching him. I enjoyed the year I had with him. ... Once that decision was made, I’ve moved on. I wish him nothing but the best. He did everything I asked him to do, and I enjoyed being around him.”

Bicknell added that arguments between players and coaches do happen. He said he has argued with other players, and other coaches have as well. He said those incidents are quickly forgotten.

“I don’t really remember too much about the whole situation,” Bicknell said. “It really wasn’t something that carried [over] very long. It’s something that does happen from time to time, but I had no problem with DeSean. None whatsoever.”

There were other topics of interest involving the assistants Monday.

One of them was the competition at kicker between incumbent Alex Henery and Vanderbilt rookie Carey Spear. Henery is coming off his worst season converting field goals, making 82.1 percent.

Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said Henery’s accuracy wasn’t as much of a problem as the lack of touchbacks. For his three-year career, Henery has made 86 percent of his field goals, which makes him one of the most accurate among active NFL kickers.

But Henery ranked only 20th in touchbacks last season with 37. The Eagles were so concerned about it that they had Henery squib kick last year against Minnesota, even though the game was in a dome. The Eagles didn’t want to risk Cordarrelle Patterson returning the ball.

“Really, his numbers in a lot of the ranges [for field goals] are really good, and most of the teams would take those numbers,” Fipp said. “The dilemma is he hasn’t kicked the ball off well enough. ... Replacing a guy like that is not easy because who’s out there [as a free agent] who’s better as a field goal kicker? You’re trying to find a guy who’s hard to find.

“But he has to get better on touchbacks and we think he is.”

As a whole, the assistants said there’s a much greater comfort level than last season, which was their first under head coach Chip Kelly. Just about the entire staff is returning intact.

That’s especially true on defense after the Eagles transitioned from a 4-3 to a 3-4 under coordinator Bill Davis. The Eagles ranked last in pass defense, then addressed the secondary by adding free agent safety Malcolm Jenkins and backup cornerback Nolan Carroll.

“We have some personnel that we’ve added along with the players who grew and got better as the year went along,” Davis said. “I think the communication is going to take a step forward having a year under our belt. ... Our pass defense has to get better collectively.”

The only major change in the staff was at quarterbacks coach, where Bill Lazor left to become the Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator. He was replaced by Bill Musgrave, who coached with the Eagles in 1998. Musgrave spent last season with the Vikings.

Musgrave’s main objective will be to make sure quarterback Nick Foles continues to improve from last season, when he threw 27 touchdown passes against two interceptions and had the third highest quarterback rating in NFL history.

“I think we’ve identified some spots to improve in terms of ditching the ball earlier in the down and not taking so many hits,” Musgrave said. “There are things we can do. But Nick is his own worst critic. We want him to keep getting better.”